


Baavira Week 2020

by Legendtron



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-08
Updated: 2020-07-15
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:08:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25141405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Legendtron/pseuds/Legendtron
Summary: My writing entries for Baavira Week 2020
Kudos: 11





	1. Day 2: Burn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little sad, but this is what I have come up with for the prompt "Burn."

Baatar excitedly smoothed out the lace tablecloth he had set out and grabbed a box of matches to light the candles held in decadent candelabras. The smell of food coming from the table behind him wafted by as he adjusted the napkins one more time. He stepped back and smiled, admiring his work. The moment was cut short, however, as he heard the door open in the other room. Baatar grew excited.  
He and Kuvira had returned to Zaofu for just a few nights to mount the colossus and perform any last minute tests needed on the spirit cannon. Kuvira was, understandably, stressed and panicked about anything and everything that could possibly go wrong over the coming days, and Baatar wanted to do something nice for her. His work, besides yelling at mech technicians to do their jobs, was over at this point. Of course, he was worried about the invasion too, but after the cannon had tested successfully he felt a large weight off of his shoulders.  
Baatar turned around and left the former office room which he had cleared out for the night and found Kuvira in the bedroom, removing her clunky armor. The armor, something which was also of Baatar’s design, was extremely practical but still quite heavy. Kuvira sighed once she was in comfier clothes and turned around at the sound of Baatar’s footsteps. She smiled softly but paused as she noticed his mischievous grin.  
“Is something wrong?”  
“I have something to show you,” Baatar smiled, walking out of the room and gesturing for Kuvira to follow. Kuvira raised her brows quizzically but followed him anyway. Baatar tried his best to hide the excitement in his step, and paused right before the door where he had set dinner up.  
“I know you’re worried about everything, and you have every right to be, but I wanted to remind you that I’m still here for you. You need to rest for a few hours,” he smiled, taking Kuvira’s hands. She looked at him with a skeptical smile before Baatar pushed open the door.  
“Wow,” Kuvira whispered as she took in the scene before her. Baatar smiled hopefully, looking at her in a way that silently asked if she liked the surprise. Before she could say anything, Kuvira chuckled a bit.  
“Do you like it?” asked Baatar, nervous at her reaction.  
“Yes— yes, I truly do,” Kuvira said, returning to a more calm demeanor. “I just never— we’re not the most traditionally romantic couple, are we?”  
“Well—”  
“All of this stuff, it’s not really us,”  
As Kuvira said this, Baatar’s gave a mildly horrified expression. Kuvira saw the hurt in his eyes and realized what she had done.  
“Oh— no, no. Baatar, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it that way. I love it. I’m just surprised,” she said. He still looked away from her, and Kuvira approached him, patting him lovingly on the back.  
“It’s ok,” he smiled weakly. Kuvira stood there for another moment before taking a deep inhale.  
“That food smells good,” she said.  
“Well then we should eat some of it,” said Baatar, moving to pull out Kuvira’s chair for her. He began to serve the food. After they helped themselves to a hefty serving, Baatar joined Kuvira across the table.  
“To the Earth Empire,” he said, raising his glass. Kuvira smiled and joined the toast.  
“And to us,” she said, taking a sip of her drink. They both took bites of their food.  
“I can’t believe it’s all almost over,” Baatar commented.  
“We haven’t secured victory yet,” Kuvira said, somewhat stoically. Baatar hummed neutrally in agreement.  
“I have faith that we’ll—”  
“Greatest apologies, Great Uniter, but there’s an urgent issue. President Raiko has begun to call the United Forces into Yue Bay,” interrupted a frazzled looking guard who had slammed the door open. Kuvira sighed with her eyes closed.  
“How is that possible? I thought the information they had was two weeks.” Kuvira questioned in a low monotone.  
“I— I’m not sure,” squeaked the guard. Kuvira sighed once more, wiped her face with her napkin, and stood up from the table, leaving the room without a second glance back.  
Baatar watched her close the door behind her, leaving him in the candlelit room alone. He sighed and forcefully hit the table with his fists in frustration. He couldn’t even have five minutes alone with his fiancee. He knew they were about to do what most likely would be the most important moment of their lives, but it felt as if there was something more than that.  
She no longer spoke with passion for her leadership to him, yet still sounded powerful each time she spoke to a guard, or even to strangers through the radio. His face grew hot as he began to pack up the food. He knew she wouldn’t be back until late in the night, perhaps not even until morning. He thought of the speech he had proofread earlier in the day that she was to deliver the following morning to announce her plans to incorporate the United Republic into the Earth Empire and how powerful she would sound, but couldn’t help feeling as if that was the problem— that SHE would sound powerful, when they had built the empire from the ground together. But the comment that stood out most in his mind was: “We haven’t secured victory yet.”  
When he thought of victory, he thought of the rest of his life with Kuvira. And the way she had said that made it seem like perhaps she didn’t care for that future as much as he did. He angrily stacked the plates together and scraped the food into the garbage. He thought about what he would say, how he would bring this up later, but froze when he realized there wouldn’t be a later for a while. In the morning was the speech, and they were taking off almost immediately after that. They wouldn’t get a chance to talk privately with each other for a long time. He sighed and accepted defeat. He would put on a happy face, get through the invasion, and then they would be married, and it would be alright. He finished cleaning up and blew out the candles, leaving him momentarily in darkness. He paused once more. He couldn’t help but feel as if the candles were not the only thing that had lost its burn.


	2. Day 4: Nicknames

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One of the many connections that start-- and solidify the relationship.

Baatar Sr excused himself from the sitting room where Kuvira and Baatar Jr sat. Suyin had called Kuvira in for a public safety update, and opted to do it in the mansion for a more comfortable setting. Baatar Jr and Sr were already in the room when they had arrived, working on improvements for the rail system and attempted to leave the room so as to not disturb, but stayed when Suyin insisted “It’s only Kuvira!”  
After a few minutes, Suyin left the room after her assistant had requested something, reminding Kuvira she “would be back momentarily.”  
Now, Baatar Sr had left in search of “a better pen.”  
Kuvira and Baatar Jr were alone together now.  
Kuvira swallowed nervously. She had never had much interaction with Baatar Jr; he was slightly older than her, and always so focused on school or work or the family. And they certainly never had had to be alone together. Even when she was first taken in, their day to day lives differed so much, not leaving much time for talking besides asking each other to pass the kale wraps at dinner.   
What made the situation even more nerve-racking was the fact that while Su and Baatar Sr were gone, she had nothing to do. Baatar Jr had his blueprints and several books, so he was preoccupied. Kuvira meanwhile, had to just… look at her hands, she supposed. When the door slammed shut from Baatar Sr leaving, Baatar Jr looked up at Kuvira and smiled quickly and politely before going back down to his work. Kuvira huffed quietly and innocently looked around the room. A small clacking sound made her snap back to face Baatar Jr, who had dropped his pen. It rolled towards Kuvira’s feet and she automatically reached down to grab the pen and return it. Baatar Jr mumbled his thanks and flashed another small smile before pushing his glasses back up his nose and returning to his book. A few moments later, he gave a sigh and closed the book, taking off his glasses and cleaning them with the hem of his shirt. Kuvira stared at him for a moment, wondering whether she dared to speak to him. She mustered up the courage and gave it a try.  
“What are you working on?” she asked politely. Baatar Jr looked up, surprised she was talking to him but glad to end the silence.   
“Oh— just some, uh, remodeling ideas for the rail system. Father wants me to help him make a more modern design, and I— well, I can’t seem to find anything that would improve it that’s not completely unnecessary or cost effective enough,” he said with a small, sarcastic laugh.   
“Sounds like a big job,” Kuvira said apprehensively.   
“Yeah. It’s not the worst I’ve had to do, though,”   
“Really?”   
“Mhmm. Uh, two years ago Father commissioned me to design a sprinkler system for the garden, but the thing he didn’t tell me was— was that I would have to install it myself— I got soaked!” Baatar Jr laughed. Kuvira chuckled along with him, surprised at his wit.   
“Well, were you successful?”   
“Yep. I got the system installed after a few days, but not until I destroyed the rock fountain out back,”  
“The fountain out back?”  
“Yeah, at one point I think I hooked something up wrong and it overloaded the water flow— the pipes got backed up and exploded!”   
“No, really? That’s a shame, that was my favorite fountain,” Kuvira laughed.   
“Well, the good thing that came from that was that no one ever asked me to do yard work again,”  
“That’s a relief! I can’t believe the fountain’s gone, though!”   
“You didn’t know?”  
“No, I haven’t— I actually haven’t been here in a while,” Kuvira said, the laughter dying down.   
“Oh,” Baatar Jr said. There was a moment of silence.   
“Can I see what you’ve been working on?” Kuvira asked. Baatar Jr, surprised that anyone would bother with his work, looked up and nodded. Kuvira looked at him tentatively before moving to sit next to him. He began to lay out his sketches with incomprehensible math calculations scribbled in the margins. She examined the documents.   
“These are great, Baatar,” she said, eyes glued to the paper. Baatar Jr suddenly snapped his head up and looked at Kuvira in disbelief. Kuvira looked up too in alarm.   
“What— is something wrong?” she asked. Baatar broke his gaze and looked shyly down.  
“No, no, no, it’s just that—” he looked up quickly.  
“—no one has ever called me by my name. I mean— like, like something other than Junior,” he said, looking down again in embarrassment. He defensively took his papers back and shifted away a bit.   
“But it’s your name,” Kuvira stated in confusion. Baatar Jr looked up, trying to think of a reply.   
“Sorry— I don’t mean— I mean, I just meant that you’re your own person,” Kuvira said, scooting forward. “Baatar,” she added with a smile, finishing her sentence.   
“You really think that?” Baatar Jr asked quietly.   
“Yeah, of course, I—” Kuvira started. She was cut off by the door swinging open, Baatar Sr and Su standing in the frame. Kuvira and Baatar Jr had violently leapt apart at the loud noise. Suyin and Baatar Sr stared at the two for a moment before Baatar Sr walked back in and clicked his new pen, sitting where he had been before he left.  
“Stay focused, Junior,” he said vapidly before both he and his son returned to their work. Kuvira, who had jumped to a standing position, looked to Suyin.   
“Ooo-kay. Uh, I didn’t really have much else anyways. Goodnight!” Kuvira bellowed before awkwardly bowing to everyone in the room and running out to the hall. Once outside, she composed herself with a sigh. She thought of Baatar Jr’s hilariously terrified face when the door had opened, and chuckled a bit before returning to the barracks.


	3. Day 5: Anchor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the lateness, but here is day 5 of Baavira Week 2020.

Baatar furrowed his brow as he looked through the morning paper. The green grass and blue skies of the countryside flew past him as he sat on the train. He had paused drinking his tea as he read and became increasingly angry as he continued through the article he was reading. 

“What is it?” asked Bolin a bit uncomfortably, noticing his distress. Baatar crumpled up the paper somewhat aggressively before flattening it out in its deteriorated state and setting his drink on top of it. 

“It’s nothing,'' he replied before looking out of the window. Kuvira suddenly entered the car with Varrick and Zhu Li, having just returned from their first meeting of the day. The inventor and his assistant sat down next to Bolin in a casual manner.

“If anyone needs me, I’ll be in my office doing some work,” said Kuvira tiredly as she continued to walk through the compartment. A second after the door closed behind her, Baatar grabbed his paper and began to flatten it out a bit and followed Kuvira into the other compartment. Bolin and Varrick shared concerned glances as the door closed behind Baatar. 

“Hm?” said Kuvira, not looking up to see who had come in. Baatar firmly threw down the paper on Kuvira’s desk, covering up her work. The action caused her to look up at him and Baatar pulled up a chair and sat down across from her. 

“Have you seen this?” he said, gesturing to the paper. 

“The morning paper? Not yet, is something wrong?”    
“There’s nothing that puts the mission at steak, nothing confidential at least,” 

“What’s the problem?”

Baatar scoffed and picked up the paper, adjusting his glasses as he began to read the front page article aloud.    
“ _ ‘Most notably featured at every one of the Uniter’s speeches is her lover’s presence, aiding her through every word with his ‘ravishing’ presence. At least that’s what we at the Gazette assume, since he seems to serve no other purpose in maintaining the empire. Though he doesn’t say a lot, perhaps still wondering how he manages to stay in the acknowledgment of the leader, we can’t complain too much; at least he’s a sight for sore eyes…’ _ ” 

He looked up at Kuvira as he paused his reading. 

“Says a lot about the world today that something like that could get published in a major paper,” Kuvira shrugged, returning to her work. Baatar looked at her in disbelief.    
“Did you hear any of what I just read out?”   
“Yes, it’s quite offensive. You can’t take anything these papers write seriously, it’s purely to sell more,” 

“That’s not my problem,” Baatar said, folding his arms. 

“Then what is it?” Kuvira sighed, looking up at him again. 

“They’re making me… it’s not just this one!” he said, throwing his arms up. 

“Baatar, calm down,”   
“I can’t calm down, you’re suddenly an all perfect leader and I’m just some— some—” 

Kuvira took his forearms and held them tightly to calm him down. He relaxed a bit, but gave a harsh sigh. 

“I don’t mean to sound selfish, but I’ve done a lot and I want to at least be credited with that. Not appreciated necessarily, but at least credited,”

“You have worked very hard throughout the past few years with me. I don’t see you like they say in these articles at all, I hope you know that,” Kuvira said after a moment. Baatar met her gaze.    
“I know, I know. It gets frustrating sometimes. And sometimes when I see you up there, so strong and powerful looking I— I start to wonder why  _ do _ you keep me around?” Baatar asked. Kuvira grabbed his hands and firmly looked him in the eye. 

“I see you as an equal to me, Baatar. I don’t intend to make you feel otherwise, and I never have,” she said definitively. Baatar smiled a bit.    
“Thank you,” he said, squeezing her hands back. Kuvira smiled as well. Baatar got up and went back to the other cabin and sat back down with his tea before turning to a new section of the paper and smiling a bit to himself.


End file.
